Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Sulfur, and Phosphorous are the 5 elements that bond together to create several complex molecules in the primordial seas of the early earth. These molecules are widely accepted to be the ones that formed the first biomolecules. These 5 simple combinations of protons, neutrons, and electrons led to the complex electrical impulses that we now interpret as thought. These 5 elements are the origins of life.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

I watched season 2 of the Doctor Who spinoff today. This particular episode was about people who lost their humanity when they went through a rift in space and time and returned to earth. Jonah, a 15 year old boy, was sent to a fiery planet in the solar system of a dying sun. The burns he experienced drove him mad, as well as scorching him into something reminiscent of Mask's troubled boy. He aged almost 20 years, and was left with a terrible tendency to scream in pain for 15-20 hours out of each day. As if still feeling the pain.

What got to me was the meeting between the young boys mother and her now disfigured son. She exclaimed in horror, "Thats not my son!" I thought about it, and in actuality, they shared little relevant experience. Learning to drive, Having his first drunken stupor, these things were all vacant from their relationship. Do they still feel the connection? He justified their relationship with vague memories from his pre-rift days. But what relationship can they sustain? In these cases, of missing children returned home 30 years later, what should a parent do? All the things that encouraged them to nurture the child, and feel a bond are gone. The child is profoundly different from the experience. Could he be said to be the same person at all? A person can be described from their personality, their physical appearance, both of which are no longer happy go lucky and smiling.

If we are to mark a person solely by their dna, then what becomes of twins? Twins can be polar opposites in personality, and disfiguring burns have a way of scorning both the skin and the demeanor of a person. What makes these guardians feel connections for their long lost relatives? If the reason is guilt, what makes this a healthy relationship? If the relative is in a mental institution, what reason does the guardian have for banter? Comfort is the only thing I can muster. Its an extremely unsettling train of thought.